DECATUR, Ark. — The impact of the EF-3 tornado that hit Decatur has been felt by the entire Western Benton County community, and while it's been hard on the residents who live there, State Senator Tyler Dees says he's proud of how neighboring towns have come together to help.
"An amazing response from people who have just said, 'Hey, how can I help?' We have our neighboring communities of Siloam Springs, Gentry, and Gravette all saying we want to come help and we stand with Decatur," Dees said.
The Western Benton County Partnership has played a big role in helping the people of Decatur as well as advising residents on the best ways to give.
"I'm so thankful that we have organizations like the Western Benton County Partnership that are coming together and joining people together to tell them how to give and creating spaces to feed all the families and really help them get supplies," Dees said.
Dees adds that it has been especially impressive to watch students from the area take time to serve their communities.
"We have students that now can come get their community service hours by helping their neighbors. Right here in Decatur, we had 41 students yesterday come out and just help clean off the debris on a farmer's land. This is stuff that would have taken him weeks, months, maybe even a year, to get done that we helped knock out in a day," Dees explained.
Help from surrounding communities has brought hope to those impacted.
"I can tell you I've met folks who have said we've never felt supported like this before, not only in their own community, but in the surrounding communities. I met a lady the other day that said I prayed for the first time in 10 years for help, and here comes lots and lots of help," Dees said.
The state senator says he wants people to know that if they need supplies, the First Baptist Church in Downtown Decatur has all they need.
"Their entire sanctuary is filled with supplies, tarps, cleaning supplies, flashlights, batteries, anything you might need in case your things have been destroyed. First Baptist Decatur is housing it," Dees said.
FEMA has also been helping across Benton County.
"We want to make sure we get into every impacted neighborhood in the community," said Keith Jones, an External Affairs Officer for FEMA.
Jones says rural areas like Decatur have been a priority.
"We made it a priority, especially since rural communities are underserved, we worked with a church out there, instead of a mobile registration site, off of things Fellowship Springs Road and you know, we've been trying to get those people applied for disaster assistance, to get them the help they need," Jones explained
If you want to donate to the Western Benton County Partnership you can go to their website and click donate in the top right corner.
You can apply for FEMA help by going to disasterassistance.gov or you can call them at 1-800-621-3362 for help.
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